Blood of Egypt (Witch Fairy Book 8) (6 page)

Chapter 10

Since we are quite a ways from the pyramids, it’s unlikely that anyone saw us appear as if from nowhere.  We look around to make sure, relieved not to find a soul anywhere in sight.  I slip my hands into Kallen’s and we start walking.  I can’t believe we’re actually here.

As we get closer, these monstrous sized structures become even more impressive.  The giant stones placed with precision to last through millennia.  The faded façade from so many years in the sun.  The voices of the throngs of people come to witness their glory.  I am in complete awe.

Kallen smiles down at me.  “You are so beautiful right now.”  My cheeks grow pink as he leans down and kisses me.  “If I had known how happy this would make you, I would have brought you here long ago.”

“I can’t believe how much my life has changed since I met you,” I say, still in amazement of my surroundings.

He sets my suitcase down and pulls me into his arms.  “Not all of those changes have been good,” he reminds me.  “Does the good balance out the bad?”

I pretend to think about it.  “Hmm, let me see.  I’m married to a gorgeous Fairy who adores me, I have close friends, I am one of the most powerful magical creatures around, I can travel between realms at the flick of my wrist and I’m currently on my honeymoon in a place I’ve wanted to see my whole life.  What were the bad things again?”

Kallen laughs.  “I cannot remember.”  He captures my lips and I wrap my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss.

Three loud popping noises drag us apart.  I’m pretty sure those were gun shots.  Considering the panic of the crowds near the pyramids, I would say I’m right.  Kallen and I both turn and begin running in the direction of the shooter.  Our progress is hampered slightly by the fact that everyone else is running away from the shooter. 

Everyone except another couple.  She has long dark hair and a beautiful face that looks as if her cheekbones were chiseled from stone.  The man with her has dark hair as well that’s slightly longer than Kallen’s and his skin is a gorgeous bronze color as if it was made to be out in the sun.  It is only a moment before it is them, the shooter, and me and Kallen.  Everyone else has fled.

The man waving the gun looks like he’s a tourist.  He has close cropped blonde hair and he’s wearing a tacky Hawaiian shirt with khaki pants.  His belly is a bit round and his glasses are rather thick.  He’s looking at his gun as if it just suddenly appeared in his hand.

The confusion in his eyes clears when they find me.  A sneer crawls onto his face and he points his gun in my direction.  There is so much raw hatred on his face that I almost take a step back.  There is no hesitation when he pulls the trigger.

Three things happen simultaneously.  Kallen and I throw up a magical wall that prevents the bullet from getting closer than six feet from us.  A sandstorm kicks up around the shooter and he is forced to his knees, shielding his eyes and face from being ravished by the tiny granules wanting to tear him apart.  The third thing?  The area is flooded with magic.  And it’s not all mine and Kallen’s.  A quick look up at Kallen confirms he can feel it as well. 

My eyes shift to where the other magic is coming from.  The dark haired woman who isn’t much older than me is staring intently at the man.  I can feel the magic flow in waves from her.  She is causing the windstorm that is keeping the man from harming anyone.  Mainly, me.

Kallen and I drop our magic at once.  The sudden depletion of magic in the air turns the woman’s head towards us.  She felt it but confusion is clear in her eyes.  Distracted, her magic falters slightly and the man is once again able to grab for his gun that he dropped in the sand.  Without taking my eyes from hers, I send a blast of magic towards him that sends him flying a good fifty feet away.  A few inches more and he would have hit one of the pyramids.  I want to disarm him, not kill him.

Simultaneously, the woman and I let our magic go.  Obviously, we’re on the same side.  Keeping a wary eye on the stunned gunman, I walk towards her.  The man tries to stumble to his feet and a small ring of fire has him crawling backwards.  I didn’t put the fire there.  She did.

“What are you?” I ask.  I can’t believe those words just fell out of my mouth.  I hate it when people ask me that. 

A surprised smile touches her lips.  “What are you?” she asks.

“Yes, what are you, Xandra?” a voice that makes me want to claw my own eardrums out says from behind me.  There is no more movement around me, not even a grain of sand.

I turn around slowly, trying hard not to show my fear.  “I should have known this was your work.  I thought you weren’t supposed to control people.”

He laughs and I visibly shudder.  I can’t help it.  “It is not control when I simply encourage someone to do what they dream about in the dead of night.  He is destined to be a killer; I simply suggested he start now.”

“What do you want?”  As if I don’t already know that he wants my head on a platter and my body torn apart limb from limb.  I shudder at the image in my mind.  It’s a very real possibility.  He is an Archangel after all.

“What do I want?  Surely you are not naïve enough to believe I would not seek revenge.”

“Revenge?  You attacked me, remember?”  I try to keep the desperation out of my voice but I’m not sure I got all of it.

“Not true.  I believed you to be Raziel at the time.  He and I have a long history of disputes.  But you and I had none.  You threw yourself into our battle without the decency of making yourself known to me.  You brought magic to the fight that did not belong there.”

I try hard not to roll my eyes.  I stop them half roll.  “Are you talking about black magic?  You’re the Angel of black magic and sin.  It sounds like you’re just pissed that I used it first.”

His form rises above me like a black cloud ready to engulf me.  “I am an Archangel and you will address me as such.”

Okay, I’m over being scared.  Now I’m annoyed.  “Your stupid parlor tricks aren’t going to scare me.  If you want me to grovel at your feet because you made your form look bigger than it is, you’ve come to the wrong place.  I’ve met Goblins who looked scarier than you do right now.”  Why do I antagonize my enemies?  Is it some recessive gene that wasn’t weeded out through evolution?

I suddenly have an Archangel in my face.  If he was a millimeter closer, our noses would be touching.  “You will learn to fear me little Witch Fairy.”  He says that like it’s those words making his breath smell so badly.

“I think I have a mint in my pocket.  Want it?”

It really hurts when an Archangel pushes you hard enough to go flying.  Unlike when I threw the gunman, Belial doesn’t care that I hit the pyramid.  In fact, I’m pretty sure he enjoyed it.  Jerk.

Rubbing the back of my head, I stand up.  “That hurt,” I say while he laughs at my pain.  He stops laughing when I hit his leg with magic before he can shield himself.  I think his femur may have broken in two.  A loud crack and his fall to the ground lead me to believe that. 

I feel his magic grow until I’m positive that I’m going to be crushed by it.  Just as he’s about to release it, a light of pure white surrounds him.  He struggles against it but he can’t break free.  With a last glare in my direction, he stops struggling and lets the light take him.  He disappears and I’m thrust out of Angel time with a serious concussion.

Chapter 11

“How the hell did you get over there?” the dark haired guy asks.  Both he and the woman are staring at me with their mouths open.  That makes sense because to them, I disappeared and reappeared somewhere else instantly.  Angel time is funny that way.

Kallen jogs to my side.  “Are you okay?” he asks.  There’s no confusion in his mind about what just happened to me.  He takes off his t-shirt to press it against the bleeding spot on my head.  “It was him?” he asks softly. 

I nod and I feel like I have a sea of sharp nails rolling around in my head.  I close my eyes and scrunch my forehead with the pain.  I’ll stick to verbal responses for the moment.  “Yes.”

The woman kneels down next to me.  “I can heal that,” she says quietly.

I smile through the pain, open my eyes, and look at her.  “I got it, but thanks anyway.”  I’m really curious about her now, but I have to focus on healing myself at the moment.  I close my eyes again and think about the nice sized gash on my head closing.  I can feel the painful pull of the tissue knitting back together, but it’s not nearly as painful as hitting the pyramid was.  Not exactly how I imagined my first visit to begin.

“Eliana, what do you want to do with this guy?” the man with her asks.  Eliana turns her head to the almost forgotten shooter who is still being kept at bay with fire.

There are sirens in the distance and it won’t take long for them to get here.  Eliana looks at the fire and it extinguishes.  The shooter is busy having a nervous breakdown and I don’t think he even noticed the fire is gone.  Just in case he recovers and wants to retrieve his gun, I cocoon him in a wall of magic.  That freaks him out even more.  He’s pushing against invisible walls like he’s a mime.

Kallen stands up and offers me his hand.  I take it and he helps me to my feet.  I feel a little woozy, but it goes away quickly.  The t-shirt in his hand is a bloody mess so he lets go of the magic holding it and creates another one.  This elicits another gasp from our new friends.  New friends.  Are they who Raziel was telling me about?  I guess I didn’t expect to find them this quickly.  Is that why he told me about it, so I didn’t screw this up somehow?

“I believe introductions are in order, but perhaps we should abstain until we are out of earshot.”  Kallen says and then looks at the gunman, “none of us can explain anything without that man overhearing.  He has already witnessed too much.  I think it best if we leave and allow the authorities to deal with him.” 

The guy with Eliana says, “Even if he tells them everything he’s seen today, they’ll probably just think he’s mentally ill.  Maybe we’ll be lucky and no one else in the crowd was paying attention to us.  I agree, though.  We should get out of here.  We can grab a taxi if we hurry.”  He may be overly optimistic about no one paying attention to us, but getting out of here is definitely a good idea.

Chapter 12

We’re able to slip into the crowd of scared tourists just as the police screech to a halt and exit their cars.  Snaking our way through the calmer mass of bodies, we grab the last taxi at the taxi stand and all pile in.  We’re far too curious about each other to go our separate ways now.

“Zamalek, please.” the guy says to the driver as the taxi begins to move forward.  “We’re not staying far from here.  We can go there.  I’m Josh, by the way.”  He holds his hand out to Kallen who is seated next to him. 

Kallen grasps his hand firmly like guys do.  “Kallen, and this is Xandra.”  I reach around Kallen and shake his hand.

“I’m Eliana,” she says with a wave.  The way we’re squished in the back seat it would be too awkward to try to shake hands.

That’s about all we feel comfortable saying at the moment as what just happened settles in our minds.  From the curiosity on Kallen’s face, I don’t think he recognizes Eliana’s magic and considering that he’s met an amazing amount of magical creatures, that’s saying a lot.  Also, the taxi driver seems to have a very good grasp of the English language as well as speaking fluent Arabic.  Which Kallen speaks as well.  I forgot that he’s multilingual.  But since the driver can understand us, we keep our mouths shut about magic.

We ride in silence for about ten minutes.  I’m fine with that as I marvel at the fact that I’m back in my realm and in Egypt.  When the Nile comes into sight, I’m practically giddy.  I can’t believe I’m really here!

I am a little surprised though when we cross a bridge onto an island in the middle of the Nile river.  When I say island, I mean small city.  We drive past an opera house and several embassies.  I don’t recognize the flags for all of them.  “Where are we?” I ask.

“We’re on the island of Zamalek,” Eliana says.  “We’re staying in a house here.  Some friends of ours are on a business trip and they asked us to housesit.  We usually live on campus.”

I nod and continue to look out the window at the beautiful buildings.  When we reach a residential area, the streets are lined with trees.  The houses are about as big as the embassies we passed.  They’re huge with immaculate, green yards and western style architecture.  This is not at all what I expected from Cairo.

“They live in one of these homes?” I ask.  As soon as the words fall out of my mouth, the taxi comes to a stop in front of a two storied, tan brick home.  The architecture is Tudor, emphasizing the effect the British once had in Egypt.  The house isn’t quite as large as Isla’s, but it’s certainly magnificent. 

“The commute to campus isn’t great, but it’s worth it,” Josh says, pulling out cash to give the driver.

“Here, let me pay,” I say, scrambling for the money I brought.

Josh grins and shakes his head.  “Nope, I already got it.”

I nod in acquiescence.  That gives me a moment to think about what he said about the commute to campus.  College.  I feel a pang in my heart.  I spent my whole childhood planning on going to college.  Not only was I going to get an education, it was going to be my escape from the lonely mountain I grew up on.  I got off the mountain, but it doesn’t look like college is in my future any time soon. 

Kallen must notice the change in my mood because he puts his arm around my shoulder.  “Someday,” he says quietly.  I look up at him in surprise.  I didn’t realize he knew how much I wanted to further my education.

Eliana opens the door and steps aside so we can enter.  The inside of the house is just as impressive as the outside.  I guess I didn’t really expect less than that.

The floors are hard wood in a dark mahogany and covered with beautiful Persian rugs.  A sunken living room is to our left and a staircase to our right.  The living room has a fireplace with two brown leather chairs on either side.  There are two couches with lighter brown fabric facing each other with a small mahogany table between them.  Egyptian artifacts are everywhere, on tables, shelves, and standing on the floor.  Each one looks old enough to be worth more than the house itself. 

Eliana sits down on one of the couches and curls her feet under her, then gestures for us to make ourselves comfortable, as well.  Josh sits next to her and Kallen and I sit across from them.  Now we just have to figure out who’s going to break our awkward silence first.

Of course it’s me.  “I’m a Witch Fairy,” I say.  “My mom’s a Witch.  My dad’s a Fairy.”

“You’re a Witch and a Fairy?” Josh repeats.  Doubt is trying hard to dig in, but he somehow remains open-minded.  He looks at Eliana.  “Did you have any idea that either of those really existed?”

She shakes her head.  “Not a clue.  I would have told you if I knew.”

Josh turns assessing eyes back in our direction.  After a moment, he asks Kallen, “Are you a Witch Fairy as well?”

Kallen smiles and then chuckles.  “No, Xandra has the monopoly on that distinction.  She is the first to be born of both bloodlines.  I am of the Fairy blood line.”

“Really?” Eliana asks.  “I’m an enigma too.  I carry the essence of the Egyptian god Ra within me.  That’s where I get my magic.”

“Inside you?” I think of when I had another soul inside of me and I try not to shudder.  “Does he talk to you and try to make you do things you don’t want to do?”

She smiles.  “Yes and no.  I have dreams when the essence wants me to know something and when I’m in dangerous situations, it gives me the courage and confidence I need.”  That sounds a lot better than my experience.  “If I begin to lose control, Josh keeps me from doing harm I would regret.”

I look fondly at my husband.  “I have Kallen for that.  Except he sometimes has to sacrifice himself to my magic to keep it from going totally out of control.”

“You lose control?” Josh asks.  I don’t miss the concern in his voice.

“Not as much as I used to,” I admit.  If we’re supposed to trust them then I have to be honest.

Eliana chuckles.  “Yeah, me neither.”

“What magic do you possess?” Kallen asks Josh.

Josh looks vaguely uncomfortable.  “I don’t.”

“He’s immortal,” Eliana says.  “He can’t die unless I do.”

“Impressive,” I say with a smile.  I haven’t been able to get a straight answer on whether or not I’m truly immortal.

“Have you always carried that essence inside you?” Kallen asks Eliana.

She shakes her head.  “No, it’s only been about a year.  I’m still getting used to it.”

I laugh.  “I know the feeling.  I didn’t even know about magic until I turned seventeen last year and mine became unbound.  But now I live in the Fairy realm and am surrounded by magic.  Oh, and my parents are ghosts.”

“What?!” both Eliana and Josh say at once. 

I spend the next few minutes explaining my interesting, and at times dysfunctional, family and how I came to know about magic.  Then Kallen explains that there are many realms other than this one.  It’s a lot of information to take in at once.  I know that from experience.  Josh and Eliana seem to handle it well, though, as only those who have seen a lot of magic can.

“Amazing,” Josh says.  “Until Eliana, I thought magic was only in fairy tales.”  Suddenly sheepish, he says to Kallen, “No offense.”

Kallen shrugs.  “None taken.  It is best if most Cowans believe that Fairies are nothing but lore.”

“Cowans?” Eliana says.

“Humans.  Other races have a really annoying habit of saying Cowans instead of humans.”  That earns me a ‘look’ from Kallen, which I completely ignore.  “What kind of magic does the essence give you?”

“I can control the elements.  I can create wind and fire at will, and I have power over water and earth.  I’m also really strong.  What can you do?”

“I can create things at will, open realms and a bunch stuff like that.”  I laugh.  “We sound like we’re filling out magical resumes.” 

She laughs.  “Yeah, it does.”

“So, you’re students?”

Eliana nods.  “We attend the American University here in Cairo.  It was a difficult decision leaving my parents in the States, but I wanted to be closer to where my magic began.  I still have a lot to learn about it’s origin.  The woman who owns this house is helping me.”  That’s nice.  I don’t know what I’d do without Kallen and everyone else.  Probably blow up a realm or two.

“The only problem with being in Egypt is that the Egyptian government wants her to be their ‘superwoman.’  One of their agents calls at least once a week to try to convince her,” Josh says.  He is definitely proud of Eliana.

“You do not want to work for them?” Kallen asks.

She shakes her head.  “No.  If I do, I’d never have a life of my own.  I think I can do as much good without working for the government.”

I think about Dagda and how he’d like to have me at his beck and call all the time.  “Yeah, I basically tell my biological father the same thing.”

“It must be more difficult for you.  You’re actually a Fairy princess.  I’m still amazed by that,” Eliana says.

I shrug.  “I don’t feel like a Princess.  I’m just me.”  Lame.  I sound like I’m trying not to be a snooty princess.  Great, now I feel awkward.

“Do you mind if I change subjects?” Josh asks.  I’m guessing he noticed my embarrassment.  Thank you.  When none of us disagree, he continues.  “If you just got here and you’ve never been to Egypt before, why was that guy shooting at you?”

My embarrassment becomes discomfort.  I vowed to myself to tell them the truth.  “I kind of pissed off the Archangel of Ruin and Darkness.”

Between the two of them, Josh is the first to recover his ability to speak.  “Archangel?  Of Ruin and Darkness?” 

I scrunch my forehead unconsciously as I say, “Did I forget to mention the Angels?”  I know I did.  I was hoping to avoid this conversation for at least a little while.  My Angel heritage isn’t something I like to make readily known.

Josh nods.  “Yeah, you did.  Was it him that threw you across the sand without us even seeing it happen?”

“Yes and no.  Yes, he threw me at the pyramid, but it didn’t happen in this time.  It happened in Angel time.  When I get pulled into it, no time passes in the realm I was in.”  I hope that made sense.

“Then it wasn’t just a millisecond for you.”

I shake my head.  “Nope.  I got to have words and fling magic back and forth with him before he was pulled away.”

“Pulled away?” Kallen asks.  “What do you mean?”

I shrug.  “There was a bright white Angel light and it wrapped itself around him and dragged him away.  I have no idea who did it.  My guess would be Tabbris, since he probably affected that guy’s freewill.”  I turn to Josh and Eliana.  “Angels and Archangels can suggest things, but they can’t take control of other beings and make them do what they want them to do.  They can lose their wings forever for that.”